Toward the end of winter 1998, Phish began preparing to record Story Of The Ghost, their first studio album since 1996's Billy Breathes. The band gathered alone for pre-production recording and practice sessions in a rented farmhouse in rural Moscow, Vermont. Using a four-wheel drive vehicle to navigate the driveway during mud season, they practiced and recorded the beginnings of many new songs like Shrine, Roggae, Shafty (Olivia's Pool, funkified), Frankie Says, What's The Use, Fikus, Birds of a Feather, Meat, the Meatstick and My Left Toe.